"This is the ultimate game of Survivor," Zohn said, "and there's really only one outcome, and that's to win. There's no other option."

The 35-year-old, who lost his father to cancer at 13, is undergoing chemotherapy for Stage 2 Hodgkin's disease, with which he was diagnosed on April 30, the magazine said. Doctors discovered a mass on the left side of his chest and swollen lymph node under his left clavicle, and last week diagnosed him with a rare form of Hodgkin's called CD20-positive Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Zohn's illness has a high cure rate, but requires an aggressive, three-month chemotherapy regimen that will cause nausea and weakness. Zahn is also expected to lose his trademark mop of hair.

His girlfriend, Survivor: The Amazon winner Jenna Morasca, says she will "fight with every fabric of my being to get him through this." Morasca memorably left Survivor: All Stars to see her mother before she died of breast cancer. Zohn also appeared on the show.